Susan Alice Buffett (born July 30, 1953) is an American

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

who is the daughter of

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net w ...

and

Susan Thompson Buffett Susan Thompson Buffett (June 15, 1932 – July 29, 2004) was an American activist for the causes of civil rights, abortion rights and birth control, and the first wife of investor Warren Buffett. She was a director of Berkshire Hathaway, owni ...

. Her charitable work has focused largely on the Sherwood Foundation, formerly known as the Susan A. Buffett Foundation, an organization in Omaha that provides grants in

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

, human services and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

in the interest of promoting the welfare of children from lower-income families. She is also on the boards of the

Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation is a charitable organization formed 1964 in Omaha, Nebraska, by investor and industrialist Warren Buffett as a vehicle to manage his charitable giving. It was known simply as the Buffett Foundation until 2004 ...

, The Buffett Early Childhood Institute, and Girls, Inc. According to a 2010 interview with her brother

Howard Graham Buffett Howard Graham Buffett (born December 16, 1954) is an American businessman, former politician, philanthropist, photographer, farmer, and conservationist. He is the middle child of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He is named after Howard ...

, Buffett's philanthropic focus has consistently remained on children, education and family issues, but she has also committed to other causes, including Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa, a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

dedicated to various improvements in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Biography

Born in Omaha in 1953, Buffett, commonly called Susie, is the eldest child of

. She attended the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univer ...

, where she majored in home economics, and studied at the University of California, Irvine, where she majored in social ecology. Her parents separated in the late 1970s (though they remained married until her mother's death in 2004). Despite his wealth, Warren Buffett encouraged his children to be financially independent; Susan Buffett recalled in 2006 that in spite of her father's generosity, he once refused her a personal loan of $41,000 to expand her kitchen. Her foundation, however, was funded primarily by $1 billion in shares from her father, Warren Buffett. In 1983, Buffett wed Allen Greenberg, a lawyer for

Public Citizen Public Citizen is a non-profit, progressive consumer rights advocacy group and think tank based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Lobbying efforts Public Citizen advocates before all three branches of the Uni ...

, whom she had met in Washington. The couple divorced in 1995. In 1987, Greenberg became the first director of the Buffett Foundation, a title he retained after the couple's divorce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buffett, Susan Alice 1953 births Living people American philanthropists Susan Alice Buffett People from Omaha, Nebraska